War through a Soldier's Eyes
by Rebel Shadowknight
Summary: Zuko learns about whole new side of Iroh when he finds his uncle's war journal. This was written after ch. 13 while waiting for new episodes. Hope you enjoy!


**Rebel: Me and DJ got to talking one day while we were waiting for the new chapters after chapter 13, and we decided to explore Iroh's past. She talked me into writing this story, and I thought everyone would enjoy it.**

**Zuko: If it has me then of course they will.**

**Rebel: What ever Zuzu. R&E! (Also know that since I typed this up now, I did change a little because now I know a little bit more about Iroh's past)

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War through a Soldier's Eyes

"This is the tenth time this week. And it's only Tuesday!" Zuko roared at his uncle's Pai-Sho proposal.

"If you would play at least one game with your dear Uncle Iroh, maybe I wouldn't ask so much." His uncle replied calmly.

The steam coming off Zuko's shoulders died. "Fine, where's your Pai-Sho set?"

"In the back of my closet." Iroh said cheerily. Zuko groaned. Uncle's closet had so much junk from all the ports they had visited, that he could probably build a new port. He trudged off to his uncle's room.

Zuko opened his uncle's door, afraid of what he might find. The room was fairly clean, or at least you could walk through it. Random objects lined the walls and shelves. Zuko walked over and opened Uncle Iroh's closet. Organizers were filled with scrolls, and outfits hung to the left of a sungi horn. On the right side of the instrument a Fire Nation helmet hung from a hook.

"No Pai-Sho sets." Zuko said, relieved. He rested, leaning against the helmet which gave way, falling o the ground as the hook disappeared into the wall. What Zuko thought was the closet slowly slid to one side to reveal a second section. Zuko now stood in front of a small arsenal of weaponry and armor as well as some old maps. He stared in amazement at the spears, swords, and daggers lining the wall. Then he noticed a small, worn-out, leather-bound book. It was a war journal. Zuko slipped it into his pocket, and slid the original closet back over the secret compartment, placing the helmet back on its hook. Zuko found the Pai-Sho set under some old papers and went back to his uncle.

Zuko sat on his bed after a painfully long game of Pai-Sho. He put his hands in his lap as he leaned forward, and felt the book he had stuck in his pocket. He pulled it out and opened it. It had been started when his Uncle became a general. Zuko read the first page.

_"It is my first day as general. My men began to disobey orders almost instantly, but I put them in their places with a few hours of tedious chores and embarrassing sparring matches with me. I won every time of course. A general must always be strong because his men have to be able to look up to him in battle_."

Zuko skimmed through training to Iroh's first battle.

_"Good news: morale is high. Bad news: so are the city's walls. My officers and I have agreed on a sneak attack. Scouts are currently watching guard shifts so we time this right. Our men will grapple over the north wall during guard change, and cross over the rooftops to the palace. Once there we will capture the lord, forcing his men to surrender."_

Zuko flipped a few more pages, noting that his uncle had won that battle and several after it, always using strategy to defeat the larger opponent. He even recognized a few of the strategies from the Pai-Sho game he had just played. Zuko turned to a page with dirt smearing the corners.

_"The battle last month at Ba-Sing-Seh was lost because my men were tired. If I don't finish this battle soon, my troops will fall once again, but this time, never to rise. Our enemy is too strong this time. The Earth Kingdom General has agreed to a duel for the decision of the battle, his troops and supplies running low as well."_

Zuko looked at the last sentence, unable to picture his uncle in fit enough condition to duel another general. He turned to the next entry.

_"The fact that I'm writing this shows that I am still alive, although I will be unable to use my left arm or leave my bed for several weeks. Since I can do nothing but lay here, I'll tell you what happened._

_As the sun rose behind me, I walked to the center of the battlefield where General Ti waited. We saluted from a respectable distance and began. As I circled, Ti attacked, sending a barrage of small stones at me. My flame shield protected me easily, but in the sudden light I didn't see a fair sized rock aimed at my chest until the last instant. I turned, taking it in my left arm. A sickening crack rang in my ears. The pain was excruciating, but the speed of the rock had given my spin some momentum, so I used it to counter-attack with a spinning blade of fire. Ti was forced to back-step as he was singed. Again he attacked, this time causing the earth beneath me to give way. I got out, but with several nasty bruises. Then I blasted at Ti, forcing him back again, this time using the fire as cover to get up close. Before Ti could block, I tackled him, pinning him to the ground and forcing him to surrender."_

Zuko stared at this entry, still finding it hard to imagine his uncle dueling. He flipped through a few more pages, stopping a few times to read about other interesting fights. As Zuko reached the last few pages, a sketch fell out. It was of a drawing of a middle-aged, but fit man, a beautiful woman next to him, and an infant in the woman's arms. Zuko realized almost instantly that this was Iroh and his family. How different Iroh seemed then. He had his own family. Now all he had was Zuko.

Uncle Iroh sat at his favorite table in the dining hall drinking tea. The ship had decided to tell war stories that night. The room went silent as Zuko walked in. Zuko came over and handed Uncle his journal. Uncle took it, and noticed the small pieces of paper sticking out of the top. He opened to the first marker, and smiled at his nephew. Iroh got up and began to read the marked entries out loud. Zuko smiled. He had marked the best pages for Uncle to read. The crew deserved to learn what an amazing man Iroh was. Zuko had. The ship sailed on, the sounds of clapping and cheering echoing in its wake.

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**Rebel: So what do you think. I really enjoyed the fight scene. I'm trying to work on writing those. Please review. I'd love to hear what you think. Also, look at some of my other works. I'd love some reviews on those, too. **


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